I overcame mine when a TH-camr's house caught fire and he lost his collection. I live in a small apartment and had a bunch of games taking up space and not a real good income to keep collecting. I asked him if he'd like a care package, he sent me a UPS slip, and he ended up with a suitcase full of retro games and systems. The cool thing is it started a trend of his fans sending him boxes and boxes of games, and he was able to continue his gaming channel after the tragedy. Now I have a few systems, but even fewer physical games. I have no problem with emulation, and maybe one day if I'm rich, I will collect original hardware again. But that's a BIG "if".
@@RetroDrew The real amazing thing is after evacuating and not finding their cat in the process, they found their cat alive and well when they were finally allowed to return. I can only imagine how it felt seeing your home in absolute ruin, thinking your friend is gone, but then finding them waiting there for you.
I suppose it could help put things into perspective. Why get stuck on collecting games when they could go up in flames in an instant? Thanks for sharing that.
I definitely feel this! At one point, I had like 200 CIB NES games, and I only wanted more :) I eventually came up with the rule that if I owned a specific game, I either had to beat it once or have played it within the past year. It was a good way for me to keep sane.
Wow dude! Great video! I'll be celebrating 10 years sober from drugs and alcohol in September so this stuff really touches home to me! I love talking about this subject because it's a really touchy and not a lot of people want to admit they have a problem. " You need to think differently about it. " That really hit. The definition of insanity is to do the same thing over and over again and expect different results. You have to change if you want to remove the insanity. You will find anyway to justify your addiction like you mentioned in the rationalizing. Ron thank you for doing this video and spreading awareness. I always tell people if they think they have a problem, ask for help. The hardest part about addiction is thinking you are alone but you're not.
I'm glad you watched! I'm glad to hear that you've been clean for so long. Yeah another tough part of addiction is being able to admit it to other people - I feel like I should have mentioned that in the video. Thanks for watching and keep up the great work on your end!
Dude, collecting addiction is real. I definitely had a point where I was just buying to buy but I quickly put a stop to that. But my stance on collecting is collect games you want to play amd on occasion pick up something weird or goofy if you have some extra money in your budget.
In all honesty that's exactly the way I think when talking about game addiction; if it's not causing you any problems I don't see it as an addiction period but if it does, then things have to change. The ways to overcome that, spot on man, narrowing your scope is a good one, I sold most of what I had and I'm only focusing on ds and original Gameboy and I'm currently still selling stuff downsizing, but again I had never had a problem and like you said if I have money reserved for bills and what not I make sure that gets covered before even thinking about buying anything else.
Hey there. I just wanted to say that I enjoy your reviews and especially your outlook on things. I pretty much agree with everything you said about your video game addiction.
Video game collecting addiction is definitely real. We have luckily steered clear of overspending when it comes to video games. There have been times we have had to save up or find creative solutions to get a bigger ticket item, but for the most part we don't incur any debt for collecting. Now renovating and making our game rooms on the other hand 😂😂😂😂
Hahaha yeah I did a reno to my game room a handful of years ago and it took a bit to pay off. Sometimes, if there's something bigger I want, I'll trade stuff in. I used to never trade anything but space really is limited. I'm happy to sell Playstation stuff and doubles of games.
This is definitely an interesting topic of conversation. While I myself am far from an addict when it comes to collecting, I've definitely been able to recognize certain addiction like behaviors in some of my collecting habits. I think when you recognize those symptoms early on, it's easier to take control of them before they get out of hand. I personally have never bought into the idea that someone has a predisposition to something simply because they have or have had a family member who has had that problem in the past. I feel like that's just another way to remove any kind of personal responsibility to the problem. I think most addictions are rooted in psychological issues. However, it's hard to deny that we all love that hit of dopamine that we get when we purchase that new game, toy, or whatever else it is that might be collecting. I think you hit the nail on the head when you talked about allotting yourself a budget. That is definitely a good way to try and reign in a problem. This was definitely a really cool topic for a video. Great to see some new content!
Good to hear from you, Joel! Yeah getting the dopamine from making a purchase is certainly not a bad thing, in fact we need that to happen. It's just when people give in and let the addiction take control that it can become a significant problem.
That last point is very important and I'm glad you mentioned because sometimes I need to hear it: "Realize that you will never be able to buy everything and you'll miss out games and on deals. It's going to happen." Very well put and explained.
It can be hard to turn something down when you know another one won't show up for a long time. That's where I usually say screw it and buy it. Sometimes it backfires and another one shows up a few days later but most of the time I'm correct. Do I need it? No. Video game collecting addiction is definitely a shopping addiction. Just like any other addiction, it fills a void in your life while releasing some dopamine.
For me it's FOMO, rather than addiction. I hate the idea of being denied a legitimate copy of a video game that I want, being an adult with my own money to spend. There shouldn't be 500+ dollar video games, but alas these are the times we're living in. Any game can become unobtainable at any time, at best the price goes from cheap to expensive the longer you wait. Unfortunately, they'll never be a better time than right now to buy pretty much any video game, at least not in our lifetimes. Retro games are the Elvis memorabilia of our generation. It's an integral part of our culture, and most of us will forever place a high value on it. There's no telling how high it could go.
Yeah you explained perfectly how many of us think when we happen to stumble upon a game. I used to go to the game store hoping that they wouldn't have anything I wanted because I didn't really want to spend the money.
I overcame it when I refused to pay ridiculous prices for NES games. $20+ for mediocre or bad games. $20 or more for super common games like Mega Man 2.
I like when people talk about the serious topics relating to fun things because many times people forgot how serious It can become If not kept in check. Cool video. ^_^
My favorite anecdote is the trash lady from Labyrinth. Don't we all feel like the trash lady sometimes?? Don't we all feel like Sarah struggling to reject the siren calls of nostalgia or being a clepto?
If it feels like things are out of balance then we need to listen to ourselves. For me, it was spending too much time looking at Ebay or Marketplace to find 'deals'. So I have decided to permit some time a couple of times to browse. Listening to our own intelligence is so important in this space. For me, Ive come back to focusing on playing games as opposed to collecting and having a niche curated collection. Enjoy the hobby, but like everything within reason, balance and fun for our own context. Cheers for the vid.😊
Being an 80’s kid, physical games are going away. I seen games like chrono trigger sell for nothing when snes faded away back in the day. The way I see it, what else can you buy that retains its value or can go up in value? Video games are an investment.
It’s tough. I’ve managed to sell off a decent portion of my collection, a lot of the outlying stuff that I didn’t really need. Now I’m down to the core of my collection. Literally just called off a huge trade to get big box pokemon box cib yesterday because I didn’t even want it I was just trying to get it simply to have it. Was going to end up trying to sell it afterwards anyway so I’m like why am I bothering in the first place. Just because I can doesn’t mean I need to.
Yeah for sure. We can have an addiction to anything whether it's food, TV, video game playing/collecting, etc. There are even people who are addicted to exercising and working out.
I simply find the systems I want to collect and limit myself to the top 50 games for the system. Anything else I'm curious about I'll use emulation or watch a replay video first
I do think collecting games is more about the chase and the dopamine rush that gives. I only buy games i play. The rest of my money goes to fun (social)activities/travels. To each his/her own of course.
The good thing about game adiction, is trhese days we dont need to avoid games to avoid the addiction. Example, druge. Love drugs? but quit, then theyh want drugs/ but for game colecting addicts, if they can beat it, they can cope with ROMS! That is the beauty, we dont need to quit playing the ga,mes we love even if we quit collecting. Roms are the cure. I know it is not that simple, if it really is in addiction terirtory, ike u said, a spending addiction hapens to be for games.
I recently Realized over the last 10 months I had a major problem with buying ganecube / switch stuff So i've If been selling off stuff I absolutely don't want in my collection Mostly trying for jrpg as of recently I'm down to only going after ps1 / ps2 / switch If it's absolutely necessary sold most of the Unnecessary stuff for switch and gamecube And kept what i want.
Been collecting since 2008. If I can't afford it I don't buy it. Collecting doesn't control my life. I have a massive collection. I have an entire bedroom in my house devoted to physical media. I've run out of games that I want to own. I've come to the conclusion I'm at the end stage of collecting games. I still collect movies and cd's. Those are cheap compared to games.
For me it was easy to quit - I just realised that in Europe I must pay the same amount of money (or more) for PAL(PEGI) games as people pay in US for NTSC(ESRB). Collecting PAL games with PEGI is worthless and it's a waste of the money. So I just quit, because collecting games in EU is a joke. Re-sellers thinking they can sell me PAL version for the same or even higher price as NTSC version. I'm not a reseller, but I paying for product the same amount of money, but at the end it's worth less just sucks. Buying PAL games is like collecting trash. Game collecting make sense if you live in US or Japan. I'm not even talking about german rating system (USK), or multi-language covers and other shit xd I'm only collecting evercade.
Better download romsets. They cost nothing, don't take up physical space, no worries about games/consoles breaking down. No addiction risks. Don't get me wrong, I like physical games too, so i have some to display in my home.
You yourself spent actual money on trash games you never intend to play. That's not collecting, people never buy a painting they hate or comic book they hate. It's only trash retro games people rationalize buying.
It's about living within your means. If you can afford it and control it and it's not causing problems, then it's not an addiction. If it's causing problems and you can't stop, perhaps you have an addiction.
I overcame mine when a TH-camr's house caught fire and he lost his collection. I live in a small apartment and had a bunch of games taking up space and not a real good income to keep collecting. I asked him if he'd like a care package, he sent me a UPS slip, and he ended up with a suitcase full of retro games and systems. The cool thing is it started a trend of his fans sending him boxes and boxes of games, and he was able to continue his gaming channel after the tragedy.
Now I have a few systems, but even fewer physical games. I have no problem with emulation, and maybe one day if I'm rich, I will collect original hardware again. But that's a BIG "if".
That's actually an amazing story.
@@RetroDrew The real amazing thing is after evacuating and not finding their cat in the process, they found their cat alive and well when they were finally allowed to return. I can only imagine how it felt seeing your home in absolute ruin, thinking your friend is gone, but then finding them waiting there for you.
I suppose it could help put things into perspective. Why get stuck on collecting games when they could go up in flames in an instant? Thanks for sharing that.
I definitely feel this! At one point, I had like 200 CIB NES games, and I only wanted more :) I eventually came up with the rule that if I owned a specific game, I either had to beat it once or have played it within the past year. It was a good way for me to keep sane.
That's a great strategy!
Wow dude! Great video! I'll be celebrating 10 years sober from drugs and alcohol in September so this stuff really touches home to me! I love talking about this subject because it's a really touchy and not a lot of people want to admit they have a problem. " You need to think differently about it. " That really hit. The definition of insanity is to do the same thing over and over again and expect different results. You have to change if you want to remove the insanity. You will find anyway to justify your addiction like you mentioned in the rationalizing. Ron thank you for doing this video and spreading awareness. I always tell people if they think they have a problem, ask for help. The hardest part about addiction is thinking you are alone but you're not.
I'm glad you watched! I'm glad to hear that you've been clean for so long. Yeah another tough part of addiction is being able to admit it to other people - I feel like I should have mentioned that in the video. Thanks for watching and keep up the great work on your end!
Fantastic message. Got recommended this, great delivery liked and subbed man. Good luck creating.
Awesome! Thank you so much. I hope to hear from you again.
Dude, collecting addiction is real. I definitely had a point where I was just buying to buy but I quickly put a stop to that. But my stance on collecting is collect games you want to play amd on occasion pick up something weird or goofy if you have some extra money in your budget.
Absolutely! That's not a bad perspective on it at all! Nice to hear from you, Drew!
In all honesty that's exactly the way I think when talking about game addiction; if it's not causing you any problems I don't see it as an addiction period but if it does, then things have to change.
The ways to overcome that, spot on man, narrowing your scope is a good one, I sold most of what I had and I'm only focusing on ds and original Gameboy and I'm currently still selling stuff downsizing, but again I had never had a problem and like you said if I have money reserved for bills and what not I make sure that gets covered before even thinking about buying anything else.
Absolutely! Collecting in and of itself is not an addiction, but I can see how it can quickly spiral out of control. Thanks for sharing!
Hey there. I just wanted to say that I enjoy your reviews and especially your outlook on things. I pretty much agree with everything you said about your video game addiction.
Awesome! Thanks for leaving this comment! Your support is greatly appreciated.
Video game collecting addiction is definitely real. We have luckily steered clear of overspending when it comes to video games. There have been times we have had to save up or find creative solutions to get a bigger ticket item, but for the most part we don't incur any debt for collecting. Now renovating and making our game rooms on the other hand 😂😂😂😂
Hahaha yeah I did a reno to my game room a handful of years ago and it took a bit to pay off. Sometimes, if there's something bigger I want, I'll trade stuff in. I used to never trade anything but space really is limited. I'm happy to sell Playstation stuff and doubles of games.
This is definitely an interesting topic of conversation. While I myself am far from an addict when it comes to collecting, I've definitely been able to recognize certain addiction like behaviors in some of my collecting habits. I think when you recognize those symptoms early on, it's easier to take control of them before they get out of hand. I personally have never bought into the idea that someone has a predisposition to something simply because they have or have had a family member who has had that problem in the past. I feel like that's just another way to remove any kind of personal responsibility to the problem. I think most addictions are rooted in psychological issues. However, it's hard to deny that we all love that hit of dopamine that we get when we purchase that new game, toy, or whatever else it is that might be collecting. I think you hit the nail on the head when you talked about allotting yourself a budget. That is definitely a good way to try and reign in a problem.
This was definitely a really cool topic for a video. Great to see some new content!
Good to hear from you, Joel! Yeah getting the dopamine from making a purchase is certainly not a bad thing, in fact we need that to happen. It's just when people give in and let the addiction take control that it can become a significant problem.
That last point is very important and I'm glad you mentioned because sometimes I need to hear it: "Realize that you will never be able to buy everything and you'll miss out games and on deals. It's going to happen." Very well put and explained.
It can be hard to turn something down when you know another one won't show up for a long time. That's where I usually say screw it and buy it. Sometimes it backfires and another one shows up a few days later but most of the time I'm correct. Do I need it? No.
Video game collecting addiction is definitely a shopping addiction. Just like any other addiction, it fills a void in your life while releasing some dopamine.
Yeah exactly. It's only an addiction if it's causing problems and yet, you can't stop.
I picked up several Wii games this month for next to nothing. Nice content dude
Nice! Which Wii games?
@@RonManGaming RE: Zero, Conduit 1&2, HotD2&3, Overkill, Ghost Squad, Dead Space, Prince of Persia, Dead Rising, RE: Chronicles 1&2. So there!
For me it's FOMO, rather than addiction. I hate the idea of being denied a legitimate copy of a video game that I want, being an adult with my own money to spend. There shouldn't be 500+ dollar video games, but alas these are the times we're living in. Any game can become unobtainable at any time, at best the price goes from cheap to expensive the longer you wait. Unfortunately, they'll never be a better time than right now to buy pretty much any video game, at least not in our lifetimes. Retro games are the Elvis memorabilia of our generation. It's an integral part of our culture, and most of us will forever place a high value on it. There's no telling how high it could go.
Yeah you explained perfectly how many of us think when we happen to stumble upon a game. I used to go to the game store hoping that they wouldn't have anything I wanted because I didn't really want to spend the money.
I overcame it when I refused to pay ridiculous prices for NES games. $20+ for mediocre or bad games. $20 or more for super common games like Mega Man 2.
Yeah that's good. You were able to put a stop to it and not fork out the cash for awful games.
I needed to hear this, thanks
Of course, man! Glad I could help!
I like when people talk about the serious topics relating to fun things because many times people forgot how serious It can become If not kept in check. Cool video. ^_^
My favorite anecdote is the trash lady from Labyrinth. Don't we all feel like the trash lady sometimes?? Don't we all feel like Sarah struggling to reject the siren calls of nostalgia or being a clepto?
If it feels like things are out of balance then we need to listen to ourselves. For me, it was spending too much time looking at Ebay or Marketplace to find 'deals'. So I have decided to permit some time a couple of times to browse. Listening to our own intelligence is so important in this space. For me, Ive come back to focusing on playing games as opposed to collecting and having a niche curated collection. Enjoy the hobby, but like everything within reason, balance and fun for our own context.
Cheers for the vid.😊
Great comment! I agree with you. Collecting is fun, but don't let it control you, and listen to your conscience.
Thanks for the video
Absolutely. Thanks for watching.
I had a bit of a collection addiction at one point. Took me a while, but I managed to get over it.
Good stuff! Glad you found your way out.
@@RonManGaming Thanks!
That's pretty sound thinking mate, Something only becomes an addiction when It affects you in a negative way.
Yeah exactly!
Being an 80’s kid, physical games are going away. I seen games like chrono trigger sell for nothing when snes faded away back in the day. The way I see it, what else can you buy that retains its value or can go up in value? Video games are an investment.
Yeah definitely a potential investment for sure.
Yes! New video! I can finally get my RonMan fix! 😀
Me? Addicted? No way! Well, maybe a little! 😅
haha well, that's not a bad addiction to have!
Yes!!!
It’s tough. I’ve managed to sell off a decent portion of my collection, a lot of the outlying stuff that I didn’t really need. Now I’m down to the core of my collection. Literally just called off a huge trade to get big box pokemon box cib yesterday because I didn’t even want it I was just trying to get it simply to have it. Was going to end up trying to sell it afterwards anyway so I’m like why am I bothering in the first place. Just because I can doesn’t mean I need to.
Many people die from fast food addiction we just don't talk about it or accept it.
Yeah for sure. We can have an addiction to anything whether it's food, TV, video game playing/collecting, etc. There are even people who are addicted to exercising and working out.
These days I only buy games to play. Too expensive otherwise
haha yeah exactly. There are some games that I will not buy even if I find them and have the cash. By the way, great work on Phantasy Star month!
"What is a video game addiction?" - turn around and look behind you mate, the answer is hidden somewhere between all those videogames.
Why pinch above the nose and not on the forehead?
Why the forehead? haha
I simply find the systems I want to collect and limit myself to the top 50 games for the system. Anything else I'm curious about I'll use emulation or watch a replay video first
That's not a bad strategy. Thanks for sharing!
I do think collecting games is more about the chase and the dopamine rush that gives. I only buy games i play. The rest of my money goes to fun (social)activities/travels. To each his/her own of course.
I wouldn't disagree, but anything fun we do provides dopamine - that's why we do things that we like.
The good thing about game adiction, is trhese days we dont need to avoid games to avoid the addiction. Example, druge. Love drugs? but quit, then theyh want drugs/ but for game colecting addicts, if they can beat it, they can cope with ROMS! That is the beauty, we dont need to quit playing the ga,mes we love even if we quit collecting. Roms are the cure. I know it is not that simple, if it really is in addiction terirtory, ike u said, a spending addiction hapens to be for games.
Yeah that's a good point!
I recently Realized over the last 10 months I had a major problem with buying ganecube / switch stuff So i've If been selling off stuff I absolutely don't want in my collection Mostly trying for jrpg as of recently I'm down to only going after ps1 / ps2 / switch If it's absolutely necessary sold most of the Unnecessary stuff for switch and gamecube And kept what i want.
Thanks for sharing that! It can be a very challenging problem to overcome. Sounds like you're doing a great job!
Been collecting since 2008. If I can't afford it I don't buy it. Collecting doesn't control my life. I have a massive collection. I have an entire bedroom in my house devoted to physical media. I've run out of games that I want to own. I've come to the conclusion I'm at the end stage of collecting games. I still collect movies and cd's. Those are cheap compared to games.
😢
You stole my name. “Ronnerman”, “Ron-R-Man”….close enough 😂❤
Now, we're brothers for life! Haha.
For me it was easy to quit - I just realised that in Europe I must pay the same amount of money (or more) for PAL(PEGI) games as people pay in US for NTSC(ESRB). Collecting PAL games with PEGI is worthless and it's a waste of the money. So I just quit, because collecting games in EU is a joke. Re-sellers thinking they can sell me PAL version for the same or even higher price as NTSC version. I'm not a reseller, but I paying for product the same amount of money, but at the end it's worth less just sucks. Buying PAL games is like collecting trash. Game collecting make sense if you live in US or Japan. I'm not even talking about german rating system (USK), or multi-language covers and other shit xd I'm only collecting evercade.
Better download romsets. They cost nothing, don't take up physical space, no worries about games/consoles breaking down. No addiction risks. Don't get me wrong, I like physical games too, so i have some to display in my home.
For sure - definitely a viable solution!
You yourself spent actual money on trash games you never intend to play. That's not collecting, people never buy a painting they hate or comic book they hate. It's only trash retro games people rationalize buying.
So basically cuz your a baller that can afford whatever it’s not a problem LOL
It's about living within your means. If you can afford it and control it and it's not causing problems, then it's not an addiction. If it's causing problems and you can't stop, perhaps you have an addiction.